Previsualizition techniques are techniques that are generally used in the film making industry to quickly and cheaply build mockups of scenes that will later be filmed on set. Prior techniques included placing proxy representations such as toys or other models in position relative to one another. The proxies would then be manipulated by hand to stage the action of a particular scene.
Current computing techniques for previsualization include software applications that allow a user to place one or more representations into a 3-dimensional (3D) environment representing the appropriate scene. The user then animates the representations by creating one or more keyframe animations for any of the representations in the 3D scene. The keyframe animations are used to specify the motions of the particular representations that are used to stage the actions of a particular scene.
Current techniques for creating keyframe animations require users to manipulate a 3D scene by posing characters and staging action while at the same time being mindful of the sequential timing of the action between keyframes.